World War II:
The Munich Pact

(September 29, 1938)

The Munich Pact was an agreement concluded in Munich, Germany on September 29, 1938, between Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy regarding the ceding of territory to Germany

GERMANY, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, taking
into consideration the agreement, which has been already reached in
principle for the cession to Germany of the Sudeten German territory,
have agreed on the following terms and conditions governing the said
cession and the measures consequent thereon, and by this agreement they
each hold themselves responsible for the steps necessary to secure its
fulfilment:

(1) The evacuation will begin on 1st October.

(2) The United Kingdom, France and Italy agree that
the evacuation of the territory shall be completed by the 10th October,
without any existing installations having been destroyed, and that the
Czechoslovak Government will be held responsible for carrying out the
evacuation without damage to the said installations.

(3) The conditions governing the evacuation will be
laid down in detail by an international commission composed of representatives
of Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Czechoslovakia.

(4) The occupation by stages of the predominantly German
territory by German troops will begin on 1st October. The four territories
marked on the attached map will be occupied by German troops in the
following order:

The territory marked No. I on the 1st and 2nd of October;
the territory marked No. II on the 2nd and 3rd of October; the territory
marked No. III on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of October; the territory marked
No. IV on the 6th and 7th of October. The remaining territory of preponderantly
German character will be ascertained by the aforesaid international
commission forthwith and be occupied by German troops by the 10th of
October.

(5) The international commission referred to in paragraph
3 will determine the territories in which a plebiscite is to be held.
These territories will be occupied by international bodies until the
plebiscite has been completed. The same commission will fix the conditions
in which the plebiscite is to be held, taking as a basis the conditions
of the Saar plebiscite. The commission will also fix a date, not later
than the end of November, on which the plebiscite will be held.

(6) The final determination of the frontiers will be
carried out by the international commission. The commission will also
be entitled to recommend to the four Powers, Germany, the United Kingdom,
France and Italy, in certain exceptional cases, minor modifications
in the strictly ethnographical determination of the zones which are
to be transferred without plebiscite.

(7) There will be a right of option into and out of
the transferred territories, the option to be exercised within six months
from the date of this agreement. A German-Czechoslovak commission shall
determine the details of the option, consider ways of facilitating the
transfer of population and settle questions of principle arising out
of the said transfer.

(8) The Czechoslovak Government will within a period
of four weeks from the date of this agreement release from their military
and police forces any Sudeten Germans who may wish to be released, and
the Czechoslovak Government will within the same period release Sudeten
German prisoners who are serving terms of imprisonment for political
offences.